CHAPTER 493: CHAPTER 407: I CALL FOR HELP, YOU ASK HOW MUCH TO CHIP IN FOR THE BANQUET?

Hmm?

A question mark slowly appeared above Jiang Nian’s head. He didn’t quite understand why Qianqian asked that, so he typed a reply.

"It doesn’t matter if it’s early."

A few seconds later, Qianqian replied.

"Oh."

He knew Qianqian all too well; caught him going out for fun. Without an explanation, it’s hard to just move on like that.

So, Jiang Nian decided to tell the truth.

"I really did go out for something, but it wasn’t with Zhou Yuting; it was another girl. Happened to bump into her in the evening, went to her place for some tea."

"She tossed the keys to her luxury car in my hand and told me to drive it around freely."

Soon, Qianqian replied with a question mark.

"(Awkward) Stop playing these awkward jokes, who cares about you? It’s late at night, haven’t slept yet, and already dreaming."

Seeing Qianqian send so many messages, Jiang Nian knew he was safe for now.

Facing friendship monitoring, there’s really no best solution. After all, who doesn’t have a few good friends? But regardless.

If you don’t have the skill to cover up the truth, don’t try to cover it up. Adding suspicion will only make the situation more chaotic.

Fear nothing, but fear chaos.

That’ll cause trouble.

Luckily, not in a relationship, otherwise, he’d certainly be shattered bit by bit.

In Zhennan, this place is known for expensive bridal dowries and crimes of passion. It’s like a local feature, enough to open a tourist area.

Tourist: "Hey buddy, what’s there to see in a chunk of old preserved meat?"

Guide: "This was the only piece we managed to save at that time."

Tourist: "?"

Jiang Nian finished drying his hair and looked around.

The living room was empty; his parents had long gone to bed. At this hour, it wasn’t certain he could reach old Xu, so he texted little Song.

"Ding ding ding."

Little Song hadn’t slept, sent back an emoji of confusion.

"What’s up?"

"Why aren’t you asleep yet?"

On the other side, Song Xiyun was playing a puzzle game on her bed. Faced with this interrogative tone, she suddenly felt a bit nervous.

"Already... getting ready to sleep."

Wait a minute, why does he care if I’m asleep?

Song Xiyun furrowed her brows, decided the next message should be a bit assertive. But thinking of those debts, she got dispirited again.

Forget it, let him be.

"Qianqian’s gone crazy, wants to chop me up, is sharpening the knife now. Have a chat with her, distract her a bit."

Song Xiyun bit her lower lip, boldly typed a reply.

"If you die, do I give your parents the money?"

"Come on, sis." Jiang Nian typed a few question marks, "I say save me, and you’re already planning the funeral banquet and bundling a few hundred?"

"No, I’m just... worried about your safety." Song Xiyun blushed to the roots of her ears, anxiously replied.

"Besides, I can’t afford a hundred for the banquet either."

Reading the message, Jiang Nian nearly spat blood.

"How much can you afford?"

In front of the phone, Song Xiyun looked at the question, feeling both her conscience and wallet being roasted over the flames.

"...50."

Seeing the number fifty, Jiang Nian couldn’t hold it in any longer.

"??? Song Xiyun, check your conscience, is our relationship just worth a Crazy Thursday meal?"

On the other end of the phone, little Song was already sweating profusely.

"We’re clear, right?"

"I know clear! Only the most basic relationship means giving fifty!" Jiang Nian stomped on the room chair, the more he typed, the angrier he got.

He was too lazy to type anymore, directly dialed a video call to prepare to scold her.

The video call was answered after ten seconds, the camera facing the ceiling.

Song Xiyun said weakly, "What’s up?"

"You tell me?" Jiang Nian pointed, directly started ranting, "Offering fifty, what does that mean? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?"

"But..." Song Xiyun cautiously showed half her face on the screen, "If my conscience doesn’t hurt, my wallet will."

"You’re really stingy, even saving on the banquet." Jiang Nian was defeated, pointing and clicking, "Fine, fifty it is."

"Help me distract Qianqian, don’t let her hack me."

"Huh?" Song Xiyun looked down at the screen, her perfect oval face illuminated flawlessly under the light, "I, I... don’t know how to start."

"Don’t play coy, aren’t you usually quite chatty?"

Upon hearing this, Song Xiyun blushed.

Indeed, as long as Jiang Nian wasn’t around, she was generally chatty.

"Alright, I’ll try."

"Mm." Jiang Nian hung up the video call.

He stood in the room, glanced at the time, then pulled out a chemistry test paper from his backpack and sat down to continue writing.

Real-world problems, do the test.

The days always have to be lived one by one, ultimately it still comes down to grades. This is his "ticket," cannot afford any mistakes.

Past midnight, Song Xiyun replied with a meme.

"(Exhausted)."

"Finished chatting, I’m about to sleep."

Jiang Nian replied instantly, "Okay."

Song Xiyun found it strange, curiously asked.

"Not sleeping?"

"Writing the test (picture)." Jiang Nian casually took a picture of the test paper and sent it, "Alright, will treat you to a meal soon."

On the other side, Song Xiyun yawned, muttered to herself.

"So hardworking?"

With that, she sluggishly crawled into her blanket. The warmth surrounding the girl, she thought about replying, but her eyelids grew heavier.

The word "good," her thumb pressed and sent it out.

....

The next day.

Jiang Nian was awakened by his biological clock, rousing five minutes before the alarm went off, knowing that closing his eyes now meant total defeat.

These five minutes would devour the remaining hour.

He took a deep breath, pulled off the blanket, got up. Throwing on clothes, he washed up quickly with cold water, grabbed his bag, and headed out.

It was still dark in the morning, pitch black everywhere.

At the entrance of the bun shop, he ran into Zhou Haifei whom he hadn’t seen in ages. She still only had a vegetable bun, plus a steamed bun.

"Zhou Haifei."

A boy with side-swept bangs ran up from the side of the road, greeting even earlier than Jiang Nian. His hair was dotted with dew, making it seem unlikely it was a casual encounter.

"What a coincidence running into you here. By the way, is having just this for breakfast nutritious? Do you eat milk and bread...?"

Seeing someone greet her, Jiang Nian decided not to join in. Instead, he walked to a soy milk shop and ordered two cups of hot soy milk.

The shop owner, a woman in her forties, quickly and skillfully poured two cups of soy milk from a large jug filled with yellow soybean milk.

"Four yuan."

"Yeah, I’ve paid."

This shop’s soy milk was rich in flavor. Compared to the 1.5 yuan soy milk at other breakfast shops that tasted bland, it was just 0.5 yuan more expensive.

That’s why students around liked to patronize this soy milk shop.

Jiang Nian paid and took the two cups of soy milk to the bun shop across the street. Turning back, he saw Zhou Haifei standing still at the intersection.

The boy next to her was saying something with a somewhat troubled expression.

"Just take it, I really don’t mean anything by it."

Zhou Haifei didn’t respond, just continued eating her bun. She saved the plain bun for last; she was someone who delayed gratification.

It’s common knowledge that people who delay gratification are more likely to succeed.

Jiang Nian came over and offered her a cup of soy milk.

"Making a fortune, Boss Zhou."

Upon hearing this, both the boy and Zhou Haifei couldn’t help but laugh.

What boss?

"I specifically bought it this morning. The bread from that shop is famously delicious." The boy spoke while glancing at Jiang Nian.

He wondered what the relationship was between this guy and Zhou Haifei, and whether he should assert his territory a bit.

Seeing that Zhou Haifei neither responded nor introduced the seemingly unreliable boy, he decided to introduce himself.

"Hi, I’m Zhou Yuebin, a childhood friend from the same village as Zhou Haifei."

Hearing this, Jiang Nian almost lost his composure.

"Hi, village buddy."

Who the hell is a village buddy; I’m... Zhou Yuebin held back the urge to curse, took a deep breath, and smiled at him.

"And you are?"

"I’m just a friend getting rich with Boss Zhou, just passing by." Jiang Nian said with a cheeky grin, blatantly making things up.

Zhou Yuebin was at a loss for words, thinking to himself where this lunatic came from.

"You..."

He also breathed a sigh of relief. Such an erratic person, with their sleazy talk, obviously wasn’t a good person.

Poor Zhou Haifei, being pestered by these useless people.

As her childhood friend from the same village, having gone through elementary and middle school together, he felt obliged to help her out of trouble.

"Please don’t bother her anymore. Which class are you in?"

"Liberal arts class."

"Liberal arts? Do you know..." Zhou Yuebin turned to look at Zhou Haifei only to see she had somehow taken the cup of soy milk.

At this moment, silence spoke louder than words.

His sentence, "Do you know anyone from the liberal arts class?" got stuck in his throat, instantly leaving him speechless.

Zhou Yuebin had put so much effort into talking, yet Zhou Haifei remained indifferent, showing no intention of accepting the bread in his hand.

And yet, she accepted the rogue’s soy milk in front of her.

At that moment, his strong teenage pride made his face turn red. Besides feeling awkward, there was a hint of anger.

He couldn’t help but look down on Zhou Haifei from above in his heart.

Finally, to hell with it, I’m not serving anymore.

"In that case, I’ll be going." Zhou Yuebin left, took a few steps, then turned back to give Zhou Haifei a kind reminder.

"Haifei, you have a bright future ahead. Don’t betray your conscience for a little benefit."

Jiang Nian looked indifferent as he watched village buddy leave, then turned to Zhou Haifei.

"Your village buddy is gone, want to go after him?"

Zhou Haifei: "....."

Some people seem born to say things just to stump others.

"If you’re not going after him, let’s go." Jiang Nian wasn’t interested in watching the drama, yawning, "I’m rushing upstairs to work on my test paper."

Zhou Haifei didn’t expect him to be uninterested in anything and was in a hurry to go upstairs and do his test paper.

"Oh."

Entering the school gates, she thought about how saying nothing seemed ungrateful to a friend, making her seem too distant.

"I’m from the same village as him, probably accepted money from his family."

"What the heck?" Jiang Nian was stunned.

"It’s the money for an arranged marriage, house-sitting." Zhou Haifei spoke without any emotion, "Maybe several thousand, maybe ten thousand."

"Did it work out?" Jiang Nian laughed.

Zhou Haifei glanced at Jiang Nian, who was gloating, and she couldn’t help but feel speechless.

"I didn’t go home."

"Then it was all for nothing, but Binbin is quite nice to you." Jiang Nian chuckled, "If it were me, I’d just refund it directly!"

"The money wasn’t for me, but my ID card is with my parents." Zhou Haifei didn’t know what to say for a while.

"Report it lost online, it’s not a hassle." Jiang Nian suggested.

"Hmm?" Zhou Haifei turned, "Can I?"

Hearing this, Jiang Nian stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look at the procrastinating Feifei sis.

"You really didn’t know that?"

"Nope." Zhou Haifei shook her head.

"Haven’t you asked the teachers about it? Or maybe the police; the police around here are nice. If you ask, they’ll definitely tell you."

Zhou Haifei was silent, "I asked my roommates."

Jiang Nian pointed at her, "A bunch of cyber illiterates."

Zhou Haifei: "...."

At this moment, the two had already reached the front of the senior high building.

Jiang Nian took out his phone, turned to her, looked helpless, and said.

"Forget it, leave it to me, your buddy. I’ll help you first, remember to treat me to a cafeteria meal when you get the bonus."

Thinking of those few cups of soy milk, Zhou Haifei nodded without hesitation.

"Okay."

Jiang Nian got the verification code from her old phone, completed the formalities, and finally asked her as he paid the fee.

"Fifty, cash on delivery via post, want to do it?"

Hearing this, she hesitated a bit.

"Why can’t I just pick it up myself?"

"Because the postal stamp has legal effect. Once you replace it, it can last for a long time. The one at home is almost expired."

"Got it!" Zhou Haifei nodded earnestly, "Thank you, friend."

"You’re welcome, Boss Zhou." Jiang Nian waved and rushed upstairs, "I’ll go work on my test paper, let’s get rich together sometime."